Social Media

Man Defeats RIAA In Copyright Case. Who Should Pay His Legal Bill?

Say the RIAA pins you with the charge of illegally sharing/stealing music files. Say the RIAA tosses you some lawyerly mumbo-jumbo and tells you they’ll be taking you to court for your digital indiscretion(s). So you get yourself your own lawyer (for argument’s sake, let’s claim you not to be a duplicate of copyright law virtuoso Lawrence Lessig in this hypothetical and probably can’t defend yourself properly) and proceed with your defense. And hey, what’d’ya know, you find that you’re still standing despite the pressures dealt by the Association. In fact, you and your by-the-hour sidekick are so adept at the ensuing arguments that the RIAA eventually calls it quits and drops the case. You of course feel really good about the win. Not all individuals who’ve been in that very position have met such a sunshiny fate.

Still, there’s a problem. You’ve got a big bill to pay. You know, for that guy or girl that sat by you in deliberations and made sure that, at the end of the day, you got a plus-one rather than a minus-one. So what do you do? Do you foot the bill? Or do you think it is someone else’s responsibility to pay for all that time and effort? Enter, the case of Cliff Thompson.

Ars Technica’s Eric Bangeman today highlights a story about Mr Thompson, an ordinarily-anonymous guy living in San Antonio, Texas, who has taken it upon himself, following his successful bout with the RIAA, to request of the US Supreme Court a decision that would ensure that any and all copyright infringement cases that happen to get dropped by the plaintiff (the Association) in the process of litigation be the sole responsibility of the record labels to finance. Right now, the future doesn't look too good for Mr. T. The original judge for his financial appeal, following his case against Virgin, denied his request. What’s more, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently refused him once again.

Now Thompson is looking to the highest court in the land to give him its opinion. Which way will it go? Well, if convention is any barometer, chances are Thompson will get snubbed again. It’s not customary for the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn decisions made more than once in the past. Though a number in the court’s ranks are known to toss out a surprise on occasion, they’re not too keen on going in reverse.

That being said, if the Supreme Court is to do right by Mr Thompson, they certainly would make sure to call the RIAA (and any other parties filing suits in copyright infringement cases) to pony up some financial recompense for the troubles forced upon any defendants. It only makes sense to offer a preventative warning to the Big Four in the record industry that, if things don’t go their way, they’ll have to write the check for any parties they’ve attacked. At least partially so, anyway. Otherwise, as Thompson’s attorney Ted Lee explains, the record industry can just keep on “gambling” with its legal battles against consumers as it seems to be doing with reckless abandon today. Which wouldn’t be to the benefit of anyone. Not even the people selling the copyrighted content to the America’s digitized citizenry.

What's Hot

More in Social Media

What's New

What's Rising

What's Hot

Mashable
is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.